Firstly, we want to say a big thank you for your support so far this season. Whether you’ve attended our matches or watched from wherever you are in the world, your presence is very much felt and appreciated by Mikel, our players and everyone at the club.
As we approach the mid-point of the 2023/24 season with several home matches already balloted, we wanted to provide you with a ticketing update.
During a time of unprecedented demand which is far outstripping the supply of tickets for our home fixtures, we reiterate our commitment to putting tickets in the hands of our supporters, with a focus on our paying members.
At the start of the 2023/24 season, we moved to a ballot system to allocate tickets to Members. After extensive discussions with the Fans Forum and the Ticketing Working Group, we concluded this is a fairer way to allocate tickets to Red and Silver Members as it enables them to register in their own time ahead of a clear deadline. It was felt this was an improved and more inclusive experience for supporters and addressed the problem of the previous system which required Members to be online to join a queue at a set time.
The ballot also helps us to address the issue of illegal ticket touting and bot activity as the system identifies suspicious activity before tickets are allocated. So far this season, this has enabled us to identify and cancel more than 25,000 accounts attempting to obtain tickets in unauthorised ways.
Price band selection
Following feedback from supporters, we’re pleased to introduce an option for Members to select their preference of price band when entering the ballot for Premier League game. This will be available from the ballot for our home Premier League fixture against Liverpool which opens on Friday, 29 December.
This change gives supporters greater flexibility with regards to where they sit in the stadium. Supporters will be asked to choose their two preferred price bands, and they will be able to indicate if they wish to be balloted into other available price bands if they are not successful with their first or second choice.
Changes to Ticket Exchange
The Ticket Exchange, our official resale platform, offers Season Ticket Holders and Members the ability to sell their ticket to other Arsenal Members if they cannot attend a game.
To ensure that tickets are being allocated to genuine supporters and to support the prevention of bots from accessing tickets, Ticket Exchange access will initially be limited to Members who were unsuccessful in the ballot. This change will be introduced from our Premier League home fixture against Liverpool which opens for ballot registration on Friday, 29December.
The service may open to other Members ahead of the match depending on demand. This will be communicated on a match-by-match basis via the ticket information page. Members will receive email communication with more information about the introduction of price band selection and the changes to Ticket Exchange.
Ballot results
After each home fixture, we update our website with statistics on the ballot success rate for the Family Enclosure and Red and Silver ballots.
At this stage of the season, with several home fixtures now balloted, we wanted to share some further updates to give our supporters additional transparency on ballot results. This analysis is based on ballot entrants up to and including the West Ham ballot.
• 41 per cent of Arsenal Members (Silver, Red and Junior Gunners) have entered at least one ballot up to and including the West Ham ballot
• 0.2 per cent of Members have entered all 13 ballots – this equates to 0.2 per cent of Red Members and 1 per cent of Silver Members
• There are 217 members who have entered every ballot and not been successful in any – this represents 0.2 per cent of all members who have entered at least one ballot
• Of the 217 members who have been unsuccessful in all ballots, 105 are Red Members, 31 are Silver Members and 81 are Junior Gunners – the majority of this group have subsequently been successful in securing tickets for at least one fixture via Ticket Exchange
As we communicated in early October, on average, 93 per cent of our sellable seats this season have been occupied by Season Ticket Holders and Members. The remainder are made up of other groups including away supporters, commercial and charity partners and players and their family members among others.
Due to the random nature of the ballot, we expect numbers to even out during the remainder of the season. We will keep the ballot statistics under review, and we don’t intend to introduce any changes to the ballot rules during this season.
We share the ballot success rates and Ticket Exchange statistics on a match-by-match basis, and we commit to publishing a report at the end of the season when we’ll have a much larger sample size and an understanding of the picture across a whole season.
Supporter consultation
We regularly consult supporters on ticketing matters via various forums, including the Arsenal Advisory Board, Fans Forum and Ticketing Working Group. We thank these groups for their support and ongoing contribution.
As part of our commitment to supporter consultation and ongoing improvement to our ticketing approach, we are planning a series of ticketing consultation sessions in early 2024 and are inviting a broader range of supporters to have their say - supporters can sign up here.
Thank you again for your fantastic support.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
